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Since 1791

PETERSEN TEGL
Petersen Tegl is a Danish brickworks which manufactures and sells bricks with emphasis on excellent craftsmanship. As one of the few brickworks in the world, Petersen Tegl masters the art of firing brick with coal. The process adds vibrant colours in pale and dark shades to the waterstruck brick. More than half of Petersen Tegl’s range consists of 100% handmade products, including the world-famous Kolumba™. Petersen Cover™, also 100% handmade, is a tile product developed for covering roofs and facades. Manufacture of brick for special assignments is a key business area in which the brickworks work closely with architects and construction clients.

Petersen Tegl was founded in 1791 and has been run by the same family in a direct line ever since. Today, the brickworks exports its products around the world, including the USA, Japan, Australia, India and several European countries.

Join brickworks owner Christian A. Petersen on his daily tour through the production at the brickworks. PHOTO SERIES >

HISTORY
On 17 May 1791, King Christian VII gave smallholder Peter Andresen permission to run a brickworks at Nybøl Nor. Already the owner of a small farm at the place, Peter Andresen became the first brick maker in the Petersen family The brickworks is now run by Christian A. Petersen and his daughters, the seventh and eighth generation in a direct line. The 6.5 km² large Nybøl Nor was then, as now, ideal for brickwork industry. The coastline of the cove had rich glacial clay deposits, and the cove had a direct navigable connection to Flensborg Fjord. Back in the 1700s, several brickworks lay side by side. With about 50 brickworks, the concentration was then the largest in Northern Europe. Today, six brickworks remain. From being a local brickworks founded more than 230 years ago, Petersen Tegl has developed into a highly specialised company with global exports. Developments have been – and still are – achieved in cooperation with architects from all over the world.

The aerial photo on the top dates from 1951 and shows Petersen Tegl in the foreground as well as other brickworks along the water. Odense Luftfoto @ Det Kongelige Bibliotek.

THE BRICKWORKS
At the brickworks at Nybøl Nor, you can not only see how brick are fired by coal and how the famous Kolumba brick is made by hand. You are also visiting a family that has lived and manufactured brick at the same place for nearly 230 years. Photographer Anders Sune Berg has portrayed the brickworks in a series of pictures - see the gallery below:

The yellow-washed main house has been the setting for the life of the entrepreneurial Petersen family for many generations

The garden has a view of the cove and the many bricks packed and ready for dispatch.

Garage, smithy, hen house and granary from 1927 were rebuilt in 1993 to accommodate the brickworks' administration. Annette Petersen, then an architect student, was in charge of the project. The garden is furnished by Per Arnoldi's sculptural houses in corten steel.

Previously, bricks were shipped directly from the brickworks' own pier and out into the world. Today, you can no longer see ships loaded with bricks, but the cove is still as beautiful as back then.

Sample walls with all of Petersen Tegl's brick products are located several places on the site.

If the Kolumba sample walls spark new ideas in a customer, the brickworks is ready to experiment with colours and textures until the goal is achieved.

The Department that makes special bricks has contributed to the restoration of several churches. An example can be found in the garden, the spire from the Skt Paulskirche in Schwerin.